Posted: | January 11, 2013 12:46 PM |
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From: | Representative Jim Cox |
To: | All House members |
Subject: | Notification of Auto Insurance Coverage |
In the near future, I plan to re-introduce legislation which will amend Section 1786(d) of the Pennsylvania Vehicle Code. Currently, an insurance company is required to notify PennDOT ONLY when someone cancels their auto insurance policy or if the policy is not renewed due to non-payment of the premium or through the company's decision to no longer provide coverage. However, the company is NOT currently required to notify PennDOT when a NEW policy is issued. This often leads to a suspension of vehicle registration for individuals who cancel one policy and begin NEW coverage with another company. A recent example of this occurred when one of my constituents canceled her auto insurance and bought a new policy. She then renewed her registration and provided the new insurance information on the renewal card. She also sent the declaration page to PennDOT but it was never recorded on her file. Several months later when she was stopped in a routine traffic stop, the officer noticed that her registration had been suspended and her car was then impounded. To date, this constituent has already spent over $600 in fees and faces an additional $596 fine for driving with a suspended registration. Requiring an insurer to provide PennDOT with notice of newly issued coverage, as we currently require for cancellations and lapses in coverage, will prevent this type of unfortunate incident from occurring in the future. Co-sponsors to prior versions of this legislation include: Boback, R. Brown, Caltagirone, Cohen, D. Costa, Deluca, Donatucci, Ellis, Everett, Gibbons, Gillen, Goodman, Hahn, Haluska, Harper, Hennessey, Knowles, Kotik, Kula, Lawrence, Metzgar, Miller, Mundy, Murt, Quinn, Readshaw, Rock, Sabatina, Swanger, Taylor, and Waters. . |
Introduced as HB382